Stroudsburg woman in 'hot shot' murder case

A Stroudsburg woman who told police about a killing to avoid a theft charge is now heading to trial on homicide charges in connection with that 2005 murder.

CHRIS REBER

A Stroudsburg woman who told police about a killing to avoid a theft charge is now heading to trial on homicide charges in connection with that 2005 murder.

But defense attorneys say the state's only evidence against Lisa Stavish is the word of a drug dealer known for keeping drugs and cash in his prosthetic leg.

On Monday, homicide charges against Stavish were held for trial. Homicide charges against another person, Anthony "Frank" Caiby of Hazleton, were also bound over.

Prosecutors say Stavish and Caiby were part of a group who brutally beat and killed David Walter McIntire in 2005 after a dispute over stolen drugs and money. McIntire's body has not been found.

On Monday, Judge Thomas E. Olsen heard testimony from another member of the group, Edwin "Beans" Kelly, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the case in 2011. Prosecutors agreed not to seek more severe charges in exchange for his testimony.

Defense attorney Michael Ventrella, representing Caiby, and David Skutnik, representing Stavish, both tried to pin blame for McIntire's death on one another.

"David Skutnik and I get along great. We are often on the same side, but this time we are not," Ventrella said outside the courtroom.

In late 2009, locked up on theft charges, Stavish told police that she had seen Kelly, Caiby and another man, who is still at large, beat McIntire, one of their customers. She said she then heard them fire the shots that allegedly killed him.

Stavish told police how the group drove McIntire's work van back to his business in Chestnuthill Township, then drove to Luzerne County to dispose of his remains.

But investigators said when they looked into those charges, Kelly told them that Stavish had played a role. Kelly told detectives that Stavish injected McIntire with a "hot shot" of cocaine and bleach. When that injection wasn't effective, they injected him again. After that, the group couldn't find a pulse, Kelly said.

Stavish initially denied, but eventually confessed to police that she had injected McIntire, state police Cpl. Shawn M. Williams said.

Kelly also said that Caiby had orchestrated the killing. Throughout the incident, Kelly said, Caiby toted a hunting rifle while ordering the others in the group to participate in the beating and murder.

Kelly said Caiby wanted to get revenge on McIntire for stealing from Kelly and Caiby's drug business. Kelly said that during a party McIntire and Stavish drugged him and stole $1,500 and an ounce of crack cocaine that he hid in his prosthetic leg.

"It was (Caiby's) stuff, I was just a middleman," Kelly said.

At the time of the theft, Kelly said he and Caiby — known as "Frank and Beans" — were cocaine dealers serving a large number of customers from Kelly's home on Rainbow Lakes Drive near Scotrun.

McEntire and Stavish were customers, and Stavish was working as a prostitute for Caiby, Kelly said.